Clay Castle of the Valley of Fairies

Lately we’ve seen all over Facebook and Instagram a place called Castelul De Lut din Valea Zanelor (Clay Castle of the Valley of Fairies), a new construction that made us think of a hobbits’ house from Lord Of The Rings. So we definitely had to find it and check it out. A few weeks ago we were coming back home from a vacation in Transylvania and decided to take a little detour and go visit the “castle”. We arrived in Porumbacu de Sus, a village in the Carpathian Mountains, 40 km from medieval city of Sibiu. When we arrived, we realized that it’s not really a castle, but more of a small hotel that it’s not ready for taking guests yet. You have to pay a small entry fee to visit, this way the owners getting part of the money they still need to finish the whole project.

The construction is really interesting, inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairy tales (or Lord Of The Rings, as we imagined it) and it’s made completely out of natural materials. The castle was built by craftsmen and workers of Maramures, a region in Northern Transylvania that is known for its crafted old wooden churches. They used clay, straw and sand. The towers are of river stone, built with lime and sand. It has 10 rooms, with 6 doubles and 4 apartments, all different and each room having its own separate entrance. Even though it’s not finished yet an you can’t stay the night, you can still visit it for a few pictures and a picnic. The unusual construction, with the river behind the castle make it the picture-perfect fairytale place that it will be worth staying in.